Grade 4 Country Reports

I had the pleasure to visit 4 new areas of the world today!

Come take a tour of the Caribbean, Canada, Mexico, and Central America with the Grade 4 students. 

Teachers presented students with a copy of the MA standards for the country they would be studying and the students then researched to discover the answers to leading questions.

Students used a variety of digital tools, as well as hands on materials to turn their classroom into their new destination.

Google Docs was used to create brochures, Google Slides and the app explain everything were used for presentations.

Click on each picture below to view the final projects.

Mrs. Lampe's Class

Mrs. Gibbas' Class

Mrs. Murphy's Class

Mrs. Kelleher's Class

Massachusetts Standards for Technology:

Multimedia and Presentation Tools

G 3-5: 1.19 Create, edit, and format text on a slide. 

G 3-5: 1.20 Create a series of slides and organize them to present research or convey an idea. 

G 3-5: 1.21 Copy and paste or import graphics; change their size and position on a slide.

Tech Tips:

Brochure Template used for Mexico Brochures

The Northeast Region~Google Style

How do you take advantage of all the wonderful features found in google for education? As a teacher it is always the challenge to have students expand on their learning. Mrs. Murphy had her class work together to create one classroom slide presentation to showcase the northeast region of the United States. A group of 2 or 3 students were responsible for the information on one part of the final project. The project was initially shared and then students added their group's information.  Here is their final presentation on The Northeast Region. I look forward seeing what this innovative class thinks of for the next region they study.

When working together it takes a lot of cooperation and collaboration on everyone's part. Here is where google scores Big Time! These fourth grade students collaborated via google comments. Check the excerpt below from their shared work. Did you notice the time that Mrs. Murphy and these students were commenting? The ability of  working with Google for Education opens the learning beyond the school day. These students were invested and happily worked from home to complete their assignment.

We Visited Nebraska

Mrs. Gibbas' fourth grade students traveled over 1366 miles via skype to visit with Mrs. Hamilton's fourth grade class from Elkhorn Valley Schools in Tilden, Nebraska

Both classes played a game of Mystery Skype and asked yes or no questions to narrow down where in the world each class was located. The questions were thoughtful and used a lot of geography vocabulary.  Some of our questions: Is your state east of the Mississippi River? Does your state border the state of Nebraska?  Is your state north of Kansas? Are you located in the western region?
Both classes guessed the other location within one question of each other.

After our skype visit the students had time to ask and answer questions.

We found out that their mascot if the falcon.

Their school goes to grade 12.

There are only 1000 people in their town.
They had snow on Monday and Tuesday this week.
The live in the central time zone which is one hour behind us.

President Gerald Ford was born in Nebraska.

KoolAid was invented in Nebraska.

Chimney Rock is a landmark in the western part of the state.

  

Grade 4 Teddy Bears

The Grade 4 students sent their teddy bears off on their journey discovering all parts of the United States and maybe even beyond. 

You can follow their adventures by checking out the Proctor Fourth Grade Teddy Bear Blog.

Teddy Bears are comfortable and tucked into their new homes waiting for the US Postal truck to arrive.

Using google sheets students will be tracking the bears' destinations.
 Click on the graph below to see their data.

New this year~ Introducing
 Techie Bear

Techie Bear even has his own blog. He wants to see outside your front door. Click on his picture above for directions on how to submit your own front door picture.

The form below is a new digital way for the grade 4 students to discover the USA. Use the scroll bar on the right to see the entire form. Thank you for your time.
Click HERE for the direct link to this form.

Bar Models

Part II of Grade 4 Math Videos Mrs. Steinberg once again held an informational meeting for parents to explain bar modeling and how to help at home.

Watch the video below and draw the bars along with Mrs. Steinberg.
Here is another video to help explain how to solve problems using bar modeling.

Long Division

Mrs. Steinberg, Proctor School math teacher, held a parent information meeting to talk about the language used in Math in Focus. Mrs. Steinberg explained how to understand and use math reasoning in long division. She gave multiple examples of how to think out the math while solving the problem.

 In the video below Mrs. Steinberg works through a long division problem.

6. Find whole-number quotients and remainders with up to four-digit dividends and one-digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

1 Grade 4 expectations in this domain are limited to whole numbers less than or equal to 1,000,000.

Visit the Midwest with Mrs. Kelleher's Class

Mrs. Kelleher had her class work on learning new facts about the Midwest Region.  The small groups of students researched their selected topic using the text book and iPad.  Finished projects were completed in iMovie Trailer.  

Click on the pictures below to view the Midwest Trailers.

Midwest States and Capitals by Maddie, Piper, and Maya

Midwest Agriculture by Justin, Kate, and Matthew

Midwest Famous Site Seeings by Stella, Maggie, and Riley

Midwest’s Best Three Landmarks by Kai, Tom and Will

The Sports of the Midwest by Chris, Max, Grady, Sean, and Colin

World Read Aloud Day with Matt Ward

The First Wednesday in March is World Read Aloud Day.  Grade 4 students had the pleasure of meeting Penguin author Matt Ward today via skype in the classroom. We had a lot of fun as Matt read us an excerpt of his book and then told us about his journey to become a writer.  He also shared the weather in San Diego, CA and thanked us for sharing cold sleet with him which is very unusual for San Diego.  We listened as the sleet continued to hit his skylight as we chatted.

Matt also shared his fascination with World Records.  Here are 2 of his attempts.

How to Create Simple Machines

Creating things using recycled items is a favorite activity of many people.  When seeing empty boxes and long cardboard tubes do you picture the many possibilities?

Ms Scott's class was given the challenge of creating a simple machine using the resources found in the CLIC lab. As the process was happening, Ms Scott recorded the steps using her iPad camera. Students then described what was happening on Ms Scott iPhone. After emailing this, she then printed out a word document.  This became the script for the final video project.

Students' scripts were highlighted for easy reading into the iPad.

What simple machines do you see?

Let's practice before we record.

Click on the simple machine above to watch the video of the How To Process.

Northeast Vocabulary

Fourth Graders spend a lot of time studying the regions of the United States. 

While studying the northeast region, Ms Scott's Class decided to share their knowledge of new vocabulary.

The first step was to use their text books to identify vocabulary words that were important.  We worked together in the library using the glossary to help us define the words.  

Then working collaboratively students wrote their own scripts to creatively teach others about the important words from the chapter.

Using our new green screen, groups filmed their script and chose the background for their scene.

After a little app smashing using Green Screen by Doink and iMovie, here is their final project.  Click on the map below.

For fun click on the picture below for some practice with the states in the northeast region.

We Took a Trip to Delaware

Mrs. Lampe's class participated in a Mystery Skype session with Mr. Bonavita's 4th grade class from New Castle, Delaware.  They almost stumped us when they said their state was not in the northeast region.  They consider their state in the eastern region.  We had to really work hard to solve this mystery.

Questioner and Answerer are ready!

Think Tank is listening to answers and getting ready with a new question.

Click on the padlet to see the facts we learned during our Mystery Skype.

Caribbean Islands

Students in Ms Mehlin's Fourth Grade Class have been researching the Caribbean Islands.  Using the app Book Creator students worked collaboratively and cooperatively in small groups to write their own books.  Book Creator allows students to begin the process on their individual iPad and when the group is ready they can combine books to finish the process.

    In grade 4, students study the geography and people of the United States today. Students learn geography by addressing standards that emphasize political and physical geography and embed five major concepts: location, place, human interaction with the environment, movement, and regions. In addition, they learn about the geography and people of contemporary Mexico and Canada. Teachers may choose to teach the standards on the geography and social characteristics of the nations in Central America and the Caribbean Islands.   The  links below open on an iPad or iPhone using the app iBooks or Book Creator.
Be sure to check out the added features when you see the sound icon.

Click the link and click on Download.
Open in iBooks or Book Creator to hear all the Extras

Trinidad Barbados Cuba  Dominican Republic Grenada  Haiti  Jamaica Puerto Rico  

Mexico

Students in Mrs. Murphy's Fourth Grade Class have been immersed in the Mexican culture while researching Mexico.  Acting as travel agents, students used Microsoft Publisher to create very attractive brochures.

    In grade 4, students study the geography and people of the United States today. Students learn geography by addressing standards that emphasize political and physical geography and embed five major concepts: location, place, human interaction with the environment, movement, and regions. In addition, they learn about the geography and people of contemporary Mexico and Canada. Teachers may choose to teach the standards on the geography and social characteristics of the nations in Central America and the Caribbean Islands.   Come along to Mexico with these students as they teach you a little of their new found knowledge.     Listen to the Band play as you walk in to the classroom.          

"Oh Canada"

Ms Scott's Class have been researching and studying Canada.  Using the app Book Creator, students worked collaboratively and cooperatively in small groups to produce these original books.  Take a tour of Canada with them.
These students would love it if you visted their Kidblog page and left them a comment. You will also find a description of the process from their point of view.
Ms Scott's Class Kidblog

In grade 4, students study the geography and people of the United States today. Students learn geography by addressing standards that emphasize political and physical geography and embed five major concepts: location, place, human interaction with the environment, movement, and regions. In addition, they learn about the geography and people of contemporary Mexico and Canada. Teachers may choose to teach the standards on the geography and social characteristics of the nations in Central America and the Caribbean Islands.

These links open on an iPad or iPhone using the app iBooks or Book Creator.
Be sure to check out the added features when you see the sound icon.

Click on the link and select download.

Open in iBooks to hear the Extras

 

Select Book Creator or iBooks to hear all the Extras.

 

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

 

New Brunswick

North West Territories

Nova Scotia

Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Quebec

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Yukon